When Cookie Gilchrist's autobiography was published in 2011, his co-author told Buffalo Rumblings that the family was looking to make it into a movie. Earlier this week, it was announced that a movie version of The Cookie That Did Not Crumble would begin filming immediately and co-author Chris Garbarino wanted to share details with fans. | Read the book review
"The Gilchrist family is spearheading [the documentary]," said Garbarino. "This is to get his story out there to people who may not have picked up the book or are unaware of the book. That is the ultimate goal; to get his story to the broadest audience."
The documentary will feature audio recordings made by Gilchrist throughout his time away from the public eye which reflected on his life in the spotlight. The book was compiled from these recordings, but the film will allow you to actually hear Gilchrist speak.
"There will be a lot of audio of Cookie telling the story in his own words," said Garbarino. "He did leave behind a lot of audio tapes where he chronicles his life early on, before the CTE really took hold of him. You'll be able to hear him say, in his own words, give you his story."
Gilchrist was posthumously diagnosed with CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, a brain disease resulting from multiple head injuries such as concussions. Dementia, memory loss, aggression, paranoia, confusion, and depression have all been linked to CTE. Gilchrist died of cancer in 2011.
Cookie's voice won't be the only one telling his story, however. New interviews will be part of the documentary as Garbarino explained:
"There will be some new information that will be done through interviews... There will be former players who played with and against him. We're going to speak to people who grew up with him. It's going to be footage we can get permission to use from the CFL and the NFL and photographs that people supply us."
The producers will be coming to Buffalo for the Bills' home opener in September to speak with several of Gilchrist's former teammates at the team's Alumni Weekend. His friends and family want to make sure that Cookie isn't remembered for some of his negative press and eccentricities, but as a man who had a vision for the future that always seemed to work out after the fact.
"We want to set the record straight and let people know what he did with civil rights, former player care, and let people know that this was a great man who was more than a football player," said Garbarino.
The documentary is scheduled to be completed sometime in early 2013, when the family will look for a distributor.